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An unhappy Robin Ventura speaks to the press after today’s 8-3 loss.
After an RBI single by Adam Dunn and a two-run homer by Paul Konerko within the first three innings, it looked like the White Sox would be in good shape with a 3-0 lead. Unfortunately it was all the Sox could come up with as Dunn would finish the game with a fly out and two walks. While Konerko would finish with two strikeouts, and the Sox would only get two base runners for the remainder of the game.
Tampa Bay on the other hand got plenty of production from their lineup. The top five hitters in their batting order finished the game hitting a combined 6-for-12 with 5 RBI’s, and putting Sox pitchers Dylan Axelrod and Nate Jones out of their misery. Not helping matters was the Sox pitching staff as a whole walking six batters, combined with a crucial fielding error by Alex Rios in the top of the eighth inning.
The White Sox as a team today finished the game batting 6-for-26 with 12 strikeouts and stranding five base runners. The Rays as a team went 10-for-35 with two home runs, and with six of their eight total runs coming in the last four innings. Despite a six inning, three run, and three strikeout game by Dylan Axelrod, Nate Jones wound up taking the loss for the White Sox when he gave up three runs with game tied at three in the top of the sixth inning.
Being down 6-3 in the eighth inning is still a reasonable deficit. Especially when Matt Thornton and Jesse Crain relieved Jones and didn’t allow a single base runner in between them. But with the Sox offense going 0-for-5 in the final two innings, and with the Rays able to get two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth off of Sox reliever Duente Heath, this one was pretty much over.
The 22,677 fans started leaving U.S. Cellular Field after Heath had given up those runs with nobody out. Overall it was just another bad day at the office for the South Siders. After the game a frustrated Robin Ventura told the media “We had it early on but we let it get away from us. We stopped hitting, and it eventually caught up to our pitching staff.”
When asked if the string of injuries on this roster have played a part in the teams recent slump Ventura said, “Injuries are gonna happen. We can’t worry about who’s not here. We can only worry about who’s here and who’s available and that is what we have to work with.” It must be noted that the White Sox do have some good news on the injury front in the case of pitcher John Danks.
It was announced that Danks would make his first rehab start of 2013 on May 2nd for the White Sox AA team the Birmingham Barons. However, there is still no timetable as to when Danks will return to the Sox rotation. But for the moment, the White Sox have now lost back-to-back games and are 3-6 in their last nine. They are currently being outscored 31-24 in this stretch.
It only continues to get difficult as the Sox will hit the road for an eight game road trip in which they’ll pay visits to the Rangers, Royals, and the Mets before returning home to begin a three game set with Anaheim on May 10th. Here is the box score from today’s game:
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There was some rain that moved through the Chicago area earlier this morning but it looks like we will get the game in today. The White Sox are wrapping up their four game series with the Tampa Bay Rays this afternoon. The Sox have been on an up and down roller coaster lately as they are 3-5 in their last eight games.
Overall the “Good Guys” are 10-13 on the season and they currently sit fourth in the American League Central Division. They are 3.5 games behind the first place Kansas City Royals. The reason for this unbalanced season is their lack of offense at times. During this eight game stretch the Sox have been outscored 23-21.
Adam Dunn has struggled at the plate this year as he is only batting .134 with just five home runs and 10 runs batted in. He has also struck out 30 times in 2013. Paul Konerko has also had his rough patches as he is only hitting .232 with three home runs, 12 RBI’s, and just a .229 on base percentage.
Other players have also had tough times in the batters box including Tyler Flowers, Jeff Keppinger, and Alejandro De Aza. The lack of hitting at times has put a great deal of stress on this White Sox pitching staff. Another issue that has been a thorn in the side of the South Siders is injuries.
Second baseman Gordan Beckham is still out with a wrist injury, outfielder Dayan Viciedo is out with an oblique strain, infielder Jeff Keppinger is day-to-day with back spasms, and it was just announced within the last couple of hours that pitcher Gavin Floyd is going on the 15-day disabled list because of a strain in his right flexor muscle.
The White Sox are the walking wounded at the moment and they are depending on some younger players to fill those voids in the meantime. As for the Rays, they are 11-13 this year. But they did manage to snap the White Sox three-game winning streak last night. The 10-4 victory gives them the chance to even up the series at two games a piece today.
Evan Longoria, James Loney, and Ben Zobrist have been the big pieces to the Rays offense this season. They combined for five RBI’s and five scored runs in last night’s victory. Manager Joe Maddon will be leaning on these three men again today. Both teams will have a chance for success this afternoon as they will be sending winless pitchers to the mound when the game starts just after 1pm.
Dylan Axelrod will get the nod for the Sox as he is 0-1 on the year with a 3.80 earned run average. The Rays will counter with David Price who is 0-2 with a 5.52 ERA. If the Sox can score some runs and take advantage of a lackluster pitcher in Price they can be successful today.
Here are today’s starting lineups:
Tampa Bay:
1. CF #8 Desmond Jennings
2. RF #20 Matt Joyce
3. SS #17 Ben Zobrist
4. 3B #3 Evan Longoria
5. 1B #21 James Loney
6. 2B #19 Ryan Roberts
7. DH #2 Kelly Johnson
8. C #59 Jose Lobaton
9. LF #1 Sean Rodriguez
Pitcher: #14 David Price LHP
White Sox:
1. LF #30 Alejandro De Aza
2. 2B #1 Tyler Greene
3. RF #51 Alex Rios
4. DH #14 Paul Konerko
5. 1B #32 Adam Dunn
6. SS #10 Alexei Ramirez
7. 3B #12 Conor Gillaspie
8. C #21 Tyler Flowers
9. CF #28 Dewayne Wise
Pitcher: #33 Dylan Axelrod RHP
This game will be decided by who can score the most runs. You can get game updates from me on Twitter @GabeSalgado82 #Q101Sports
The Cubs celebrate after their come from behind victory tonight.
In the early going it looked like the Cubs were going to continue their losing ways. Two errors by catcher Welington Castillo and a throwing error by shortstop Starlin Castro allowed the Milwaukee Brewers to score three runs in the top of the second inning. But the Cubs defense wouldn’t allow any more runs to come across from that point on.
It took a while for the North Siders to get their bats going. They only managed two hits in the first four innings. The Cubs would begin to scratch the surface in the bottom of the 5th inning. After Travis Wood struck out to start the inning, David DeJesus would get a single. Starlin Castro would reach first on a throwing error by the Brewers. Anthony Rizzo would finally break the ice for the Cubs grounding out to second base and allowing DeJesus to score. The Brewers still led 1-0 after five.
The Cubs would tie the game in the seventh inning after another rally. It started with a pinch-hit single by Steve Clevenger, followed by a David DeJesus double. An RBI ground out by Starlin Castro allowed Clevenger to score and moved DeJesus to second. Then Anthony Rizzo would come up next with a huge RBI double, scoring DeJesus and tying the game at 3.
From there Carlos Marmol would come in to pitch the eighth inning. He was booed out of the ball park as Cubs fans assumed the game would be lost from here. It looks like Marmol got his act together as he would only allow one hit in his solo inning of work. Cubs fans were thanking God for that one.
Then in the bottom of the eighth, the Cubs offense would make the Brewers pitching staff feel their wrath. Brewers reliever John Axford gave up a single to right fielder Nate Schierholtz followed by back-to-walks to Luis Valbuena and Dioner Navarro to start the inning. A pinch-hitting Scott Hairston flied out, but that allowed Schierholtz to score from third. Then David DeJesus would step up with a monster, bases clearing, two RBI double to put the Cubs up for good 6-3.
Rookie closer Kyuji Fujikawa would finish the game from there by striking out the side to pick up his second save of the season. Carlos Marmol believe it or not picked up the victory, he is 1-1 on the year. Credit must also be given to starter Travis Wood and reliever Hector Rondon.
They combined for seven innings of work. Rondon did not allow a single base runner, while Wood allowed 7 hits, 3 walks, and he was charged with the three runs from the second inning. He also struck out six Milwaukee batters. The Cubs losing streak stops at five games, and they hope to begin a winning streak starting tomorrow. The Cubs have yet to win two in-a-row this season.
They are hoping to start that trend tomorrow with game three of this four game series with the Milwaukee Brewers. Here is the box score from tonight’s game.
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After taking two out of three in Pittsburgh to start the season, the Cubs have lost five in-a-row since then. Offense hasn’t been a major issue for the Cubs although it wouldn’t hurt for them to score a few more runs. Defense and pitching have been the achilles heel for the Cubs so far in 2013.
The loveable losers gave Atlanta an early 4-0 lead last Friday and lost 4-1. The next night, the bullpen would be the Cubs undoing as a a few bad pitches wound up costing the Cubs a 5-1 lead. They would lose that game 6-5. Then to wrap up the Atlanta series on Sunday, an out of control 7th inning by Jeff Samardzija ruined another Cubs lead and they would lose once again.
In yesterday’s home opener, the Cubs were simply out matched by the Milwaukee Brewers. Not helping matters was the fact that Edwin Jackson gave up four runs in the first inning. With Travis Wood taking the mound for the Cubs today they have a little hope heading into game two against Milwaukee tonight.
Wood is already 1-0 on the season with a perfect earned run average of 0.00. In his first outing in against Pittsburgh last Wednesday, Wood pitched a flawless six innings, only giving up one hit and one walk. He also struck out four batters. The Cubs are hoping and praying for similar performance out of him tonight.
Considering the Brewers are only 2-5 this season, the Travis Wood gives the Cubs a good chance to win this evening. But you can never underestimate the Brew Crew as they tagged the North Siders for seven runs in yesterday’s series opener. The Cubs will need another strong outing from Travis Wood combined with some solid offense if they are going to break their losing streak tonight.
Increasing the Cubs chances for victory is the fact that the Brewers are sending Wily Peralta to the pitchers mound tonight. Peralta lost his only start of the year and already has a 6.75 ERA. He struggled in his season debut by allowing 4 runs, 6 hits, and and 3 walks against Colorado last week.
Tonight is a huge opportunity for the Cubs to get back on the winning track.
Here are tonight’s starting lineups:
Milwaukee Brewers:
1. RF #7 Norichika Aoki
2. 2B #23 Rickie Weeks
3. LF #8 Ryan Braun
4. C #20 Jonathan Lucroy
5. 3B #11 Alex Gonzalez
6. CF #27 Carlos Gomez
7. SS #9 Jean Segura
8. 1B #3 Yuniesky Betancourt
9. P #60 Wily Peralta
Chicago Cubs:
1. CF #9 David DeJesus
2. SS #13 Starlin Castro
3. 1B #44 Anthony Rizzo
4. LF #12 Alfonso Soriano
5. RF #19 Nathan Schierholtz
6. C #53 Welington Castillo
7. 3B #24 Luis Valbuena
8. 2B #20 Brent Lillibridge
9. P #37 Travis Wood
It’s very cold here at Wrigley Field, with temperatures expected to drop in the low 40′s tonight. We are also expecting a chance of rain. There is some fog in the area but it’s not causing any problems at the moment. Fans are making their way into the Friendly Confines and they are bundled up in sweaters and coats. Some are even carrying blankets.
There’s even a draft up here in the press box. Hopefully the Cubs can get this game in before the rain arrives this evening. You can follow me on Twitter for game updates @GabeSalgado82 #Q101Sports
The White Sox celebrate their opening day victory.
Opening Day in Major League Baseball always has the bells and whistles. Today the national anthem was sung by one of Chicago’s prominent media families, Phil Ponce and his sons Anthony and Dan. It was followed up by former White Sox and Royals outfielder Bo Jackson throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.
Afterwards Jackson jokingly told the media: “I’ll give you 100-1 odds that my team is gonna win today. You can quote me on that.” If anyone bet money on those odds they are probably a rich person now. Jackson played for the White Sox from 1991-1993 and won a division title with the franchise.
As for the game……
What happens when you get very little offense but a solid pitching effort? You get a White Sox victory. It wasn’t pretty, then again it never is when it comes to the South Siders. The Sox have always had a reputation for “Winning Ugly”, and today was no different. Despite the winter-esque weather today, 39,012 managed to show up to sellout U.S. Cellular Field.
The fans would go home happy thanks to a marvelous effort from starting pitcher Chris Sale. In 7.2 innings, he allowed 7 hits but no runs, no walks, and he had six strikeouts. He threw a total of 103 pitches, 72 of which were strikes. The White Sox bullpen held it down and did the rest.
Nate Jones was first in relief, he didn’t officially pitch an inning but he walked a batter and threw a wild pitch. Matt Thornton only faced one batter but did strike him out. Addison Reed got his first save of the 2013 season in one inning of play. He did walk a batter but did get a strikeout to end the game.
The only run of the day came in the bottom of the 5th inning thanks to a solo home run by White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers. The Sox did get eight hits today but stranded eight base runners. Alex Rios, Adam Dunn, and Paul Konerko finished a combined 2-11 with 3 strikeouts. Rios got the only two hits out of the three.
He also had the only stolen base of the day for the White Sox. Lead-off man Alejandro De Aza also had a rough day as he went 0-4 and struck out twice. Alexei Ramirez had two singles, Gordon Beckham, Jeff Keppinger, and Dayan Viciedo had combined for the rest of the teams hits.
It’s always good when your team gets the victory. I know it’s only the first day, but if the big bats in the White Sox lineup can’t get things going it will create some problems down the line. But for now, let’s enjoy this victory.
Both teams will get to rest tomorrow but the series does resume from U.S. Cellular Field on Wednesday. The starting pitchers have yet to be announced. Here is the box score from today’s game:
With today being April Fools Day, Mother Nature must be playing a joke on us because it is only 35 degrees here in Chicago today. 35 degrees is the minimum temperature that Major League Baseball allows games to be played in. So let’s just hope and pray that it doesn’t get any colder here at U.S. Cellular Field.
The White Sox still have a bitter taste in their mouths after last season’s August/September collapse which ultimately cost them a trip to the playoffs. They hope not to make the same mistakes in 2013, but they will do it with some new additions to the roster. Kevin Youkilis is no longer the third baseman here on the South Side.
Long-time utility man Jeff Keppinger will man the hot corner this season, last year the right hander suited up for Tampa Bay. Also gone is fan favorite catcher A.J. Pierzynski. Of course A.J. wasn’t always a favorite with his teammates, but today is a new day. Tyler Flowers who spent years either as the backup or in AAA, will finally get his chance to be the full-time starter.
The biggest surprise is that Paul Konerko is still wearing a White Sox uniform. The only question is how much longer will be still be a good guy in black?
There are some other new faces as well, mostly younger players. But most of the core players from 2012 are still on the roster. Today they open the season against the Kansas City Royals. Even though the Royals finished in third place with a below .500 record last season, they gave the White Sox problems all year. They were also instrumental in keeping the Sox out of the postseason.
They come into this year with a blended mix of season veterans and hungry young players. Today everyone is 0-0 with a chance to start fresh and erase the bad memories of 2012. Robin Ventura is in his 2nd season as the White Sox manager. He is glad to finally come home to start the season after a lengthy winter in Arizona. If only the weather could reflect how he feels.
Kansas City is headed by Ned Yost who is in his fourth season as the Royals skipper. He is hoping to get his team above the .500 mark and to become a division contender. Today’s pitching match up will be interesting to say the least. The South Siders will send Chris Sale to the hill this afternoon.
Sale was one of the better pitchers on Robin Ventura’s staff last year. He finished the 2012 campaign with 17 wins, 8 losses, and an earned run average of 3.05. He also had 192 strikeouts to just 51 walks. If he can keep up that consistency this year, the Sox should be in good shape.
Kansas City will counter with 31-year-old right hander James Shields. This is his first year in a Royals uniform as he played in Tampa Bay from 2006-2012. Last year he sported a 15-10 record with a 3.52 ERA.
Here are the rest of the lineups for both teams.
Kansas City:
1. #4 Alex Gordon LF
2. #2 Alcides Escobar SS
3. #16 Billy Butler DH
4. #8 Mike Moustakas 3B
5. #13 Salvador Perez C
6. #35 Eric Hosmer 1B
7. #6 Lorenzo Cain CF
8. #21 Jeff Francoeur RF
9. #17 Chris Getz 2B {Former White Sox player}
1. #30 Alejandro De Aza CF
2. #7 Jeff Keppinger 3B
3. #51 Alex Rios RF
4. #32 Adam Dunn DH
5.#14 Paul Konerko 1B
6. #24 Dayan Viciedo LF
7. #10 Alexei Ramirez SS
8. #21 Tyler Flowers C
9.# 15 Gordon Beckham 2B
You can follow me on Twitter for game update @GabeSalgado82 #Q101Sports
After yesterday’s big victory over the Detroit Tigers, the White Sox now begin a road trip that could make or break their playoff hopes. Tonight the Sox begin a six game road trip in Kansas City.
When the South Siders last met the Royals a couple of weeks ago, they came to U.S. Cellular Field and took two out of three games from the Sox.
Overall, the Good Guys In Black are just 5-10 against K.C. this year. The third place Royals who are 14 games below the .500 mark, are licking their chops today.
They would love nothing more than to destroy the White Sox playoff aspirations this year. The Sox are aware that the Royals have nothing to lose.
They are also aware that the Royals are out to play spoiler to give their season some sense of purpose. The White Sox need to be on their P’s and Q’s for the next three games.
The South Siders can only go as far as their pitching will take them. Gavin Floyd will take the hill tonight, but how effective will he be considering he’s still healing from his recent injury?
If Jose Quintana’s struggles yesterday are any indication of the difficult road that lies ahead, then the Sox have their work cut out for them.
The bullpen has stood it’s ground over the last few games but they can’t be perfect every day. The Royals will bring all of their firepower against the Sox.
The Sox need to win at least two of the three games against K.C. to stay ahead of Detroit. After Kansas City the Sox head out to Anaheim for three games to take on the Angels.
The Sox are 6-5 when playing in the pacific time zone this year and scoring an average of four runs in those games. Those six victories were not easy and historically, the Sox have had difficulty when playing out west.
Robin Ventura’s squad finishes the season next week with a seven game home stand. Home is where the heart is but the Sox need to take care of business on the road first.
The magic number to clinch the American League Central Division title stands at 14.
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Considering that I haven’t said much about baseball during spring training, I thought that this article would be appropriate. Opening Day for the 2012 Major League Baseball season is this week with the Cubs opening up on Thursday and the White Sox opening up on Friday. Normally I look forward to opening day. But this year not so much.
I was hoping that the Cubs would have a brighter future with Theo Epstien at the helm. I was also hoping for things to change for the better when the White Sox announced that they would be changing managers for 2012. But that was not the case on either side of town. Theo Epstein did almost little to nothing in the free agent market, and the Sox made a sentimental hire instead of grabbing either Bobby Valentine or Terry Francona when they had the chance.
While Robin Ventura is one of the most respected Sox players of all-time, but he has very little experience as a coach and no experience as a manager. This is just another one of Kenny Williams’ many questionable decisions. I was really hoping that after Ozzie Guillen left that Williams would shy away from White Sox alumni. Kenny Williams should have been fired years ago.
Not only did he not bring in a proven manager, he did not make any major moves in free agency, he built yet another questionable pitching staff, and he still holding out hope that the much older veteran leadership will carry the team again. A.J. Pierzynski and Paul Konerko are getting older and aren’t as productive anymore. Jake Peavy never seems to stay healthy, and then there’s the question of weather or not Adam Dunn will rebound from a miserable 2011 season.
There’s also the question of who the closer will be now that Sergio Santos is gone. Perhaps Dayan Viciedo, Alejandro De Aza, and Tyler Flowers will be the bright spots for the White Sox this season. The Cubs have just as many question marks if not more. They didn’t make a serious offer to Prince Fielder, they didn’t even try to get Albert Pujols, and they also failed to land a proven manager.
The Cubs already have Starlin Castro, Alfonso Soriano, and Marlon Byrd. Someone like Pujols or Fielder would have been an excellent edition to this team. The Cubs instead are building the team around Castro, Brian LaHair, Darwin Barney, and Tony Campana. Now I understand Theo Epstien’s approach to investing for the future…..
But after 100 plus years of not winning a world series, I think he was better off at least trying to win for 2012. But instead it looks like we’ll waiting for next year again. The Cubs also have questions with their pitchers as well. Ryan Dempster had his worst season as a major leaguer in 2011, can he rebound with a good 2012? Can Matt Garza rebound from a subpar 2011 season?
Is Jeff Samardzija ready for the big time? And what about the bullpen? It looks like Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol will be rotating as closers again. So unless either baseball team can prove me wrong this year, it is going to be a long season. If neither team is contending at the all-star break, expect the Cubs to unload Byrd, Soriano, and Garza’s salaries.
You can also expect the White Sox to finally pull the plug on Konerko and Pierzynski, and perhaps Jake Peavy as well. At the moment, most Chicago fans are praying that the Bulls and Blackhawks will be playing through June. And on a side note, the NFL has announced a new deal with Nike to make the 2012 NFL playing uniforms.
Reebok had the honor of doing so from 2001-2011. The Bears also had their uniforms previously made by Nike from 1997-2000. Here is how the 2012 NFL uniforms will look: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/nike-releases-nfl-uniform-designs-sehawks-major-overhaul-192520103.html;_ylt=AhfRyFgEQp400IdIKCkGcJH0Ycp_;_ylu=X3oDMTRuamFsbzljBGNjb2RlA3ZzaGFyZWFnMgRtaXQDRmVhdHVyZWQgQmxvZ3MgQ09SRQRwa2cDZjk2ZWYwMzQtZjI4OC0zNmU0LTk1ZmItZmNkMTI3YTg1ZDA0BHBvcwMyBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJMaXN0TWl4ZWRMUENBBHZlcgMxNTZjZjMzMC03ZGU1LTExZTEtYWY5Zi1iMWQ0ZDc0NDg3ODE-;_ylg=X3oDMTM3dWduaDdpBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNzBiNWI1NDMtNDgyMi0zMGI1LWIwMTUtYWU1MmIzNjFhMWM0BHBzdGNhdANtbWF8Y2FnZXdyaXRlcgRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3
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